Byzantium: Battle of Nicaea
by V. K. Alexandrov
Summary: Hey guys, I'm a huge fan of the TW series, and Medieval II is still by far my favourite game of the saga. I might try one in Empire once I finish this one and it gets some reviews. It's my first story, so you'll have to forgive me if I've made mistakes. Helpful advice will be appreciated of course. Thanks for taking the time to read this and hope you enjoy :) -V.K.A.
1. Chapter 1

Byzantium:  
The Siege of Nicaea

Prologue:

If there was one thing halting the Turkish advance into Eastern Europe, it was the Byzantine Empire: the oldest remnant of the once great Roman Empire. The Byzantines already had a sound foothold in the Nicaea and Trebizond Regions, but the angry Islamic majority of the populations made it no easy task for the militias to maintain public order. Trebizond had faced many strikes and riots, while Nicaea had already suffered two revolts, both of which resulted in widespread crop devastation and created an opportunity for the Turkish forces along the borders. Though both revolts had been crushed, they left the surviving forces based in Nicaea diminished and low on morale. The Turkish Faction Leader, Sultan Jalal, seized the moment to strike, and marched his forces west from to lay siege to Nicaea. His army was 8,000 men strong, consisting mainly of Arab Spearmen, Peasant Archers, Sipahi Cavalry, and his General Bodyguard. Once Jalal's army crossed the border, word had already reached the officer in charge of Nicaea's defending forces, Captain Theodosius.

Captain Theodosius had only led the Nicaea town militia once against the second revolt following the death of the late Isaac Comnenus, son of Emperor Alexius, during the battle against the first revolt. Defeating an angry mob was one thing, but defeating a fully armed Seljuk army led by its Sultan was a completely different matter. Reinforcements would not be available either because the Byzantine armies of Eastern Europe were fighting against the Hungarian forces at Bran. Captain Theodosius was in command of several units of Town Militia, Peasant Archers, and a unit of Byzantine Infantry which acted as the commanding unit of the garrison. Nicaea's defence was only 5,000 strong, and did not have nearly as much battle experience as the Turkish forces. The Jalal's army was expected to be outside the town wall by the end of the month, but the Sultan had sent a small emissary ahead to demand the town's complete and unconditional surrender.

Chapter One:

Theodosius let his eyes roll along the vast plains as he strolled along the wooden wall of the settlement. He watched the Turkish emissary ride across the outlying field, flanked by two Sipahi cavalrymen on either side. They slowly grew from small black specks in the sun-scorched grass to normal size as they approached the gate. Theodosius called to the guard to open it, and made his way to the staircase. He began to feel his heart pound against his chest as his anxiety grew. He even felt his temples throbbing when he reached the bottom of the stairway and made his way outside the gatehouse to greet the emissary.

The emissary had already dismounted from his horse. It was black and grand looking, like the man who was now approaching him.  
"A fine looking horse." Theodosius said politely.  
The emissary stopped and looked back at his steed before replying,  
"It is a Barbary horse. I purchased it from the grand bazaar in Cairo."  
Theodosius pondered for a moment. This man was definitely not of Turkish blood, nor did he look Egyptian. From the skin colour Theodosius guessed he may have been of Sudanese origin, or some other tribe beyond the sands of the Sahara.  
"Am I correct in thinking that you are the commanding officer here?" the black emissary inquired in a slightly impatient tone.  
"I am." Theodosius replied. "Theodosius of Corinth." he added.  
The emissary eyed him down meticulously, scanning his posture and attire. Theodosius knew he didn't look much of a commanding officer in his nearly torn chain-mail armour, but then again, it was uncommon for a Byzantine of Greek birth to have such a status.  
"I see." the emissary said finally, "In that case, my Sultan wishes for me to tell you that he has graciously offered you all a chance to surrender."

By this time, the soldiers that had all gathered around Theodosius and the emissary began to murmur and whisper amongst one another. All eyes were on Theodosius; everyone awaited his response uneasily. Theodosius thought about his next words carefully.  
"Is the mighty Sultan willing to accept our terms?" he asked.  
The emissary could not help but scoff at the captain's question:  
"I am afraid that your surrender is to be unconditional." he answered.  
The murmurs grew louder and even more uneasy.  
Theodosius then said, "Then I am afraid that surrender will not be possible."  
Gasps of disbelief erupted from the surrounding soldiers. They could only think that the captain had just signed their death wishes. Shouts of anger came from all directions. Abuse was aimed at both Theodosius and the emissary.  
"Just go back to the desert where you belong and leave us alone!" one roared.  
"Who the hell put you in charge of us anyway, Greek?" another bellowed.  
The emissary smirked and spoke above the shouts of offensiveness.  
"It appears that your fellow soldiers disagree with your decision."

Theodosius remained calm under the pressure that was bearing down on him. He smiled and repeated his last words;  
"Surrender will not be possible."  
The black emissary grew annoyed at Theodosius' stubbornness. His lips went thin with impatience and his hands clenched into fists. The shouting had died down now, and everyone was once again listening in on the conversation.  
"My wise Sultan expected such a foolish reply." he said sternly, "As a result, he told me to tell you that if he is victorious, you will all be his slaves until the day you die, your women will be raped like filthy whores on the street, your children butchered and the rest of you set as target practice for archers! You will all wish you had never been born!"

The surrounding area went deathly quiet. Theodosius took a step towards the emissary, but a Sipahi lance stretched in front of him, blocked his path. The emissary raised his hand, and the Sipahi backed away. Theodosius never took his eyes off the black emissary. He took several more steps until he was right in front of him. There was a long pause, as Theodosius began to think to himself. He thought of the Greek history and how they fought and lived. How the Spartan soldiers responded to orders and threats of imminent attack. Then he remembered the Spartan's famous Laconic Response to King Phillip II's threat of invasion. Theodosius leaned over the emissary's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Nobody heard it; only the emissary who, in turn, proceeded to walk towards his horse with a new found mixture of uncertainty and disbelief on his face. The soldiers noticed the change in the emissary's stance. It looked as if he had just been slapped across the face. Even the Sipahi looked taken aback by the emissary's change.

The emissary never said a word from the time Theodosius had whispered in his ear to when he rode out of the town gates with his bodyguard. As the soldiers watched the Turks ride off into the distance, one of them asked the captain,  
"What did you say to him?"  
Theodosius didn't look away. He just continued to gaze out into the fields.  
"I gave him a Laconic Response." he told the soldier.  
The soldier looked at him in disbelief.  
"What does that even mean? A Laconic Response?" the soldier asked.  
"A concise statement." Theodosius said, "Do you recall what the emissary told me after I refused to surrender?"  
The soldier did not take long to answer that question.  
"Of course! He said that if the Sultan beats us, he will make us wish we were all dead men."  
"Precisely." the captain said.  
The soldier was still confused.  
"So?" he asked, "What did you say to him?"  
Theodosius finally turned, looked the soldier in the eyes, and said,  
"If."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Daylight was fading over the town walls and the light from the fires of the Turk camps could be seen atop the distant hills. Patrols walked the streets of Nicaea, wary of spy activity and the town gates were closely guarded in case any attempts were made to sabotage them. The town was deathly quiet as peasants and soldiers alike feared a night attack from the Turks. Minutes passed, then eventually hours, and soon, the sun returned. It slowly edged up over the hill upon which the Turk camp was situated and brought light to the people of Nicaea once again. No spies were found; no scouting parties were spotted; no skirmishes from the Sultan's army were sent. There was some relief to be found among the peasants who were grateful that the Turks had not killed them in their sleep.

Theodosius walked towards the gatehouse just after sunrise to get his night watch report."Nothing all night sir," one officer told him as he entered the room. "it seems as if they intend on starving us out."Theodosius looked out the window towards the Turk campsite."How can you tell?" he officers all looked at each other worryingly, as if the truth was hard to bear."They look like they have settled on the hill and, from what we've discovered, plan on staying there until we surrender or become so weak that taking Nicaea will not cost the Sultan anything great." Theodosius looked down at the ground, fearing the answer to his next question."What about reinforcements from Constantinople; Have we received any word of their arrival?"The look of despair in the officers' eyes gave the captain his answer. There was a long grim pause."I see." he said finally, "We're on our own here."

Suddenly, people began shouting outside. About what, nobody inside was sure, but they had a good idea. The Turks were beginning the siege. Theodosius and the officers burst out of the gatehouse to see militia and archers running in all directions in order to reach their assigned positions. It was chaos outside: everyone's voice was drowned out by the sounding of trumpets, the beating of drums, the clashing of sword and spear against shield, and the chanting of the advancing Saracen militia. They numbered roughly a thousand strong with several hundred archers behind as support. A unit of Sipahi, no doubt the general was amongst them, was leading the attack. The rapid march of the Saracens caused the dust beneath their feet to erupt into the air, causing a sort of smokescreen, partially covering them from arrow fire. Then the marching stopped, as did the chanting, and the instruments. All was quiet until the Saracen general rode in front of his army and called out in a hoarse voice. He spoke in Arabic, a language nobody on the walls of Nicaea knew. Another voice called, but this one was in Greek. There was a translator with the general, who did not seem to know any Greek at all.

" الناس نيقية! لا يريد لي سلطان الأكثر كريمة وسخية الدم دم يسيل. على الرغم من قائد الخاص بك تصريحات مهينة للمبعوث لدينا، وعلى استعداد لتقديم حتى الآن فرصة أخرى." **

"People of Nicaea! My most gracious and generous Sultan does not want blood to be your commander's insulting remarks to our emissary, He is willing to offer yet another chance." **

"أي رجل على استعداد للاستسلام وترك البلدة دون أن يصاب بأذى قد تفعل ذلك. السلطان الوعود التي لا ضرر سوف يأتي لك. إذا كان أي منكم لديه إحساس، وسوف يتخذ القرار الصائب." **

"Any man willing to surrender and leave the town unharmed may do so. The Sultan promises that no harm will come to you. If any of you have sense, you will make the right decision." **

"لديك حتى حلول الظلام." **

"You have until nightfall." **

The General reared his horse around and rode back behind the wall of Saracen Spearmen. The translator followed with haste. On the walls of the town, the cries of the peasants and soldiers spread around like a disease. Theodosius thought about the General's words. He was not fooled. He knew.  
Anyone who left the town was doomed to die. No matter how fast they ran.

** I do not speak/write Arabic, and used Google Translate to get the words. If any of it is incorrect I apologise for that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The mass of people gathering at the gates continued to grow until even the last man had arrived from the far end of the town. The people were in hysterics, and nobody could calm them; the sun had already began to descend towards the horizon. The city was under curfew until a meeting could be held and adjourned at the town hall. Nobody was allowed to step outside the walls, and peasants were asked, and sometimes forced, to return to their homes.  
The town hall was situated in the centre of Nicaea. It looked out onto the central plaza where some people had begun to gather. Theodosius entered the main gallery where an assembly of officials and representatives had already started discussing a course of action to take."We cannot hope to put up a fight!" one official said."This is the Sultan of the Turks!" another called decided to remain silent for a few minutes until the noise died down a little."If we leave tonight, under the cover of darkness," an elderly official began, "we can return to Constantinople and warn the Emperor of the Sultan's advance!"There were murmurs and nods of agreement."I have no intention of dying here by a filthy Seljuk's scimitar!" the elder continued, "And I am certain none of you have any intention either!"Others began proclaiming openly now:"Why should we die here?""We're not peasants!"

"And if you make it to Constantinople, will you tell the Emperor that you failed to uphold your oath to protect and govern his lands?" Theodosius called from afar. He had heard enough of their arrogance. "I'd be surprised if you even made it a mile from here before getting killed by the Sultan's scouts." The room went silent instantly: Theodosius had their attention now."You are all fools to think that you can leave here alive. The Sultan will make sure that no-one escapes to tell about the size of his army."Almost immediately, officials began shouting and arguing again even more than they had previously done."Silence!" the elder roared above them all. Every official stopped talking simultaneously and all eyes were on the elder."You, captain, are even more foolish to think that you can possibly fight off this horde of demons at our gates."All eyes turned to Theodosius. He could feel the pressure that was piling on him as he racked his brain for a response to the elder.

There noises emanating from outside in the plaza. More people had gathered outside the town hall to learn the news of the council's decision. People were yelling, some were crying, others remained silent in anticipation that all hope was lost: the sun was almost below the horizon. The sky was mix of bloody red and orange like the desert sands that seemed to mirror the sky. Theodosius burst out of the town hall and into the mass of people that were now overflowing the central plaza area. He needed to return to the wall: he had to convince the militia to fight.

By the time he reached the gatehouse, the Saracen general had emerged from amongst his soldiers who were already celebrating their soon-to-be victory. Their confidence struck even Theodosius's nerves: he was beginning to sweat at the forehead. He wiped it off with his hand and took a deep breath, waiting for the Sipahi general to speak out.

"وقتك هو ما يصل! هذا هو فرصتك الأخيرة؛ بإخلاء المدينة الآن، أو تعاني من عواقب تحدي إرادة السلطان العزيز المفضل""Your time is up! This is your last chance; vacate the city now, or suffer the consequences of defying the Mighty Sultan's Will!"

Nobody said a word: the entire wall was quiet. Much to Theodosius's surprise, the soldiers held their peace, and did not move from their positions on the battlements. The silence lasted almost ten seconds, until one Byzantine soldier called out:"If your Sultan wants this town, he's going to have to pry it from our cold dead hands!"The uproar afterwards was immense: the cries and cheers echoed all throughout the entire cheer was so effective, that even the peasants began to join in. Theodosius was baffled: what had changed their hearts and minds so easily? He turned to the soldier at his side and asked,"Why are they all cheering?"The soldier stopped mid cheer, and stared at the captain as if he were mad."Why?" the soldier repeated, "Haven't you heard? Reinforcements are arriving from the West, with Prince Stefanos himself leading them!" Theodosius just stood dumbstruck! He couldn't believe it: Nicaea actually stood a chance at breaking the Turkish siege. He unsheathed his sword and raised it up into the air. It shone in the moonlight, reflecting down into the Saracen ranks. The soldiers followed his example, and soon, every sword and super was raised towards the heavens as if they were saluting an invisible leader.

And then, in unison, as if someone had given an order, they all cried out, not in fear but defiance,

"FOR THE EMPEROR!"


	4. Chapter 4

The message was clear to the Turks: surrender was out of the question. The Saracen general reared his horse and raised his hand. The Spearmen began bashing their spears and shields together and started chanting in unison. The chanting entered a sharp crescendo as the soldiers grew more excited. The attack was imminent. Theodosius called for the archers to line the ramparts, and be ready to fire at will. The Turk general roared the command to charge and extended his hand forward in the direction of the walls. The Saracen Spearmen raced towards the gates in a berserk charge, screaming and banging their shields and spears as they did. The archers on the walls fired their arrows into the huddled mass of men, bringing down most of those leading the charge. This did nothing to dash the spirits of the fanatic Arabs, as they closed in on the gates. Another wave of arrows rained down on them, cutting their numbers by another fifty. Again, the Arabs were not showing any signs of breaking their charge.

The third wave of arrows had a more demoralising impact on the charging Saracens as Theodosius believed it was time for the archers to set their arrows alight. The simultaneous burst of fiery arrows killed about seventy men and wounded forty others. The Turks slowed their advance, giving the archers a chance to fire again. More Turks fell, causing a serious blow to their moral. They slowed their advance to a slow walk as they tried to form several spear walls to protect themselves from the arrows. The Turks had lost several hundred soldiers by the time they reached the walls of the town. They threw themselves against the gates to try and break through. The Spearmen in front raised their shields above their heads as cover.

Theodosius called for some spear militia to stand at the gates and be ready to charge on his command. One last wave of arrows was sent down and the gates opened for the militia to charge the wavering, yet adrenaline-pumped Saracens. The clashes of spear against shield and armour, and the cries of agony as soldiers fell in the fray instilled a sense of worried ness in Theodosius: for a moment, he thought he had made a grave mistake in sending the men outside the walls. But his panic subsided as he observed several Turkish soldiers breaking from the fight. Then more, and more, until after several seconds, all remaining Turks had been routed and now made for the camp on the hill. The Byzantine militia cheered and roared in delight at the sight of the fleeing enemy.

Theodosius called down to the militia,"Great work boys, but we're not out of this yet!"The men settled and obediently returned to their positions in high spirits. A small victory made all the difference to these soldiers, Theodosius thought to himself. Or perhaps it was too soon to judge their behaviour, based on the fact that the Sultan had sent his weakest and most expendable soldiers. Some men went about picking up the dead at the gateway: Turks were laid to rest outside the wall to be collected, while the rest of the dead and wounded were brought inside and placed in the central plaza to be claimed or attended to by physicians. Theodosius wandered about the mass lines of bodies that stretched as long as the town hall itself. Some had died in worse ways than others: some had horrible gashes on their bodies and organs had dangled out where the cuts were, while the rest had been cleaner kills. The smell was due to get worse as the day lurched on.

A trumpet sounded at the wall, and Theodosius turned and bolted down the alleyway to reach the gate as quickly as he could. The sound of soldiers shouting orders and civilians running in the opposite direction to safety rang along the battlements: another attack was imminent. The next wave of Turks was marching across the fields slowly, and they had taken some artillery with them: ballistas. Now the walls were about to be put to the test against basic siege weapons. The metre-long bolts were loaded onto the ballista, ready to impale anything in their way. Some Saracen Spearmen set up positions nearby, ready to charge once the gates had been breached. The first bolt fired into one of the gateway towers, taking a medium chunk off the side, and sending it down to the ground behind the wall. A second one penetrated the wall below where Theodosius was standing above and could clearly see it jutting out, wedged between two great planks of wood.

The third missed the wall, but ended up through the window of a two- building and a fourth bolt, set alight, soared straight over Theodosius' head, missing him by inches. It plunged into a mound of hay, creating a small blaze and a pillar of smoke began rising from it. Ballistas were certainly not the most accurate machines, but they can cause a fair amount of panic: people poured out of the houses near the fire, and began yelling and running in every direction. Soldiers ran to them, ordering them to return indoors, where it was safe, or safer."It would be silly to think anywhere here was 'safe'." Theodosius thought to himself.

Two more ballista bolts were fired into the right gate tower, partially destroying it. A great cheer erupted from the Turks below as they grew more confident, knowing the defences were weakened.

"Captain!" someone called from turned to see a soldier running towards him carrying a letter.

"Captain," he said again, "Our reinforcements, led by the Emperor, have been delayed: they were ambushed by Turkish skirmishers. They fought the attackers off, but it has cost them an hour or two."

"Then we must hold the walls until then, soldier!" Theodosius had to raise his voice as a large boulder was hurled into the left gateway tower, completely destroying it. The Turks had brought in catapults to finish what the ballistas had started. Now the gatehouse had no towers and was partially vulnerable to battering rams and siege towers. Theodosius ordered more soldiers onto the walls to back up the archers in case of an assault on the walls by ladders or towers. More boulders were hurled at the gate in an attempt to break it without the use of a battering ram. Theodosius knew the gate would not last long. He called up some Spearmen to cover the gate in case it was breached. More boulders were sent hurtling towards the gatehouse, and others were aimed at the wall on the left, possibly to create another breach for the Turks to pour through. Three tore through, causing the structure the weaken and creak. Theodosius couldn't afford to lose any men at this stage, so he called the men on the crumbling wall to withdraw.

Another three boulders smashed into the wall, causing an eruption of smoke and splinters. Some soldiers were sent flying, while others were impaled by large splinters and planks of wood. As the smoke cleared, Theodosius stared in horror at he scene: the wall section was completely decimated, showing a clear opening for the Turks to enter. A cry of celebrations rang out from among the Saracen ranks, and they charged.


End file.
